Wall Street poised for lower open after strikes on Yemen
Reuters - Mar 26, 2015
U.S. stocks were poised for a lower open on Thursday to put the S&P 500 on track for a fourth straight decline, after Saudi Arabia and its allies launched air strikes on Yemen.
Oil prices spiked, with Brent crude up 2.8 percent to $58.04 and U.S. crude up 2.4 percent to $50.38 after warplanes from Saudi Arabia and its allies struck Shi'ite Muslim rebels fighting to oust Yemen's president. Halliburton shares gained 1.5 percent to $44.12 in premarket trade.
"We are looking at an ugly open. Obviously the situation in Yemen is being used as the excuse for this pullback, which is a continuation of yesterday," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
"Whether or not this is the beginning of a correction that could take us down by eight or ten percent I’m not sure, but certainly the ingredients for one are in the making."
U.S. stocks had dropped on Wednesday as a slump in technology and biotechs sent the Nasdaq to its biggest decline in nearly a year while the S&P 500 fell through key support levels.